Phonograph



Feb. 6, 1923,

W. H. MILLER PHONOGRAPH Filed July 5, 1921 1 till]? ji kwt Patented Feb. 6, 11923 wmzrnn' n. MILLER, or ORANGE, ivnwmnsnv;

he lh llif PHONOGRAPH;

Application filed. my 5 1921. Serial mi 82,384.

foaZl whomiz/mag concern: M v, .7 v, Be; tlmQWnhat L l lime I I R, a tize ,Of t Un ted. tate a a esi ent oijfirange, Essex Qounty, New Jersey, have 5 invented certain new and usefulimprovel l t in v 11,onographs, of which thetolloyv,

is a es ip io v f P Myinvention relates to ,phonographs, and more particularly to phonographic recording devices, being insoine aspects an improvement on theinvention disclosed in Patent No. 1,350,616 granted to me'on Aug. 4;. 92Q. f i: .v is In the cutting of thesound record groove in making a phonograph record, the cutting toolorrecordingstylus removes the material of the record tablet in the form 01E thin shavings andiine particles. These shavings andparticles havea decided tendency to gatheror bunch together on the surface of the recordiqablet, and any appreciable accumulation thereof, upon being carried around on the surface otthetalolet inthe path oi"; the r'cording stylus, ilnay seriously affect an mpair or; Wen wholly prevent the operation o'i t he latter, In, regular, phonoraph recording studios this objectionable fleature' is usuallyovercomeby directing an. air blast onto the record tablet at apoint adj acent the recording stylus, The employ ment Of SllCll means inhome recording deiGQS, for which my invention is especially designed," would, however, be impracticable and ,objectionable because of the expense involvedand also the resulting dispersement and scattering ,of the shavings and particles cut fromtherecordftablct in the; recording operatiom r v One of the principal objects of my in-,

vention resides in the pro ision of simple and inexpensive meansi'for effectively pre-' venting all appreciable" accumulations of material'cut from the record tablet inthe recording operation, fromreaching orbeing carried to the point of engagement of the recording stylus and tablet, whereby the foregoing objections will be obviated.

Another, and also, one of the principal objects of my invention, is, to. provide in a device ofthe characterdescribed, a simple and novel construction and arrangement for effectually,preventing during the operation o'fithe device, allchattering or vibration or" the recording stylus, other than that producted bythesoundwaves to be recorded.

' Other featuresof my invention residein the construction of parts andcombinations of elements hereinafter more fully described andclaimed. .i r e y In order that myinventiunmay be more clearly understood, v attention; is directed. .to the. drawing accompanying/and forminga part of this, specificatiomand inwhich v ,Figure 1 is ,a ,fr'agmental view in side elevation,-.of. a phonographic recording device embodying my invention, showing the parts in operative position with respect C0230 record tablet; and v v vFig. Zisafragmentalplan view ofthe device shown in F igure. 1. v i v Z0:

,Beferring to the drawing, reference char-v actor 1 represents the .horn :orsound. cons veyor of my improved recordingdevice, pro? vided at its. small .end witha cylindrical portion 2. The sound, conveyor 1 ismounted rigidly on travelingzcarrier3 in ahsube stantially horizontal position, as ibyflmeans of a strap el-rembracing, the. cylindricalpom tion of the conveyor and, secured to a V6}? tical portionoi" the carrierby screws 5. A transversely extending hollow cylindrical casing 6, havinga portion of its cylindrical wall cut, away as indicated an 7, is rigidly secured, as by brazing, .to the end ot the cylindrical portion 2 of the conveyor, and communicates therewith. r v. The, recorder properv comprises adiaphragm support orcasing8, in which the usual, diaphragm (not shown) is, suitably mounted, and. a recording stylus Qcarried bythe stylus supporting arm orbracket 10, the latter beingpreferably. secured to the dia phragnnat thescenter and adjacent .theledge thereof, in theusual manner. :An inclined sound conveying tube 11 is rigidly secured at one end to the top of the diaphragm casing 8 and communicates with the latter, and has rigidly secured to its other end and in comnnmication therewith, a transversel extending tubular. member a 12. The tubular mem ber..12 is mounted within the casing 6 for turning movement, pivots 13 provided on the ends of vthe member 12 taking loosely into openings in the center Of the end walls or: the casing 6. It will. thus be seen that the recorder is 'mounted on the conveyor for vertical swinging movement about a horizontal. axis coincident with the axis of the casing 6, and that all sounds enteringthe conveyor or horn 1 will be con- 110 veyed to the diaphragm casing 8, it being understood that the wall of member 12 1s provided with a cut-away portion (not shown) to establish communication between such member and the conveyor 1.

Thedevice is shown in the drawing in operative position with the stylus 9 of the re corder engaging the flat tablet or disk 14 to cut a sound record groove therein. The tablet '14 is rotated about the axis of the vertical spindle 14: sothat the portion thereof which isenga-ged by the stylus travels relativelyto the latter in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. The diaphragm casingand diaphragm are now in a substantially horizontal position or substantially parallel to the record tablet 1a, and the easing 8 and the parts carried thereby are free to move up and down with respect to the sound conveyor 1 about the axis of the casing 6 to allow the stylus 9 to follow the large surface irregularities of the tablet.

In recording devices such as described, a chatter or vibration, in addition to the vibra tion due to the sound waves, is frequently imparted to the recording stylus, this generally being caused by the resistance of the material of the record tablet to the cutting of the record groove by the stylus. Such a chattering seriously impairs the operation of the stylus and results in an imperfect, blurred record. I have found that this chattering may be effectually prevented by applying to the diaphragm casing a slight extraneous pressure. While there are various ways in which this extraneous pressure may be applied, I preferably apply the same by means of an arm or finger 15 having its upper end pivoted at 16 to one end of the casing 6, and resting or hearing freely at its lower end, under the action of gravity, on the top of the, diaphragm easing 8. The lower end of the arm 15 is preferably provided with a piece of felt 17 or other resilient sound and vibration deadening material, for engagement with the top of the casing 8. To enablethe effective extraneous pressure on the casing 8 to be properly regulated, a weight 18 is adjustably secured to the arm 15, as by means of a set-screw 19. It is important that the pivotal connection 16 between the arm 15 and casing 6 be located eccentrically of the pivotal axis about which the diaphragm casing 8 is mounted to swing, as otherwise the action of the arm or finger 15 in preventing chattering of the stylus 9 during the recording operation will be much less effective. This I believe to be due to the fact that by reason of the pivotal connection 16 being eccentric to the pivotal axis about which the diaphragm casing swings, any pivotal movement of said casing will result in a slight lateral or transverse sliding movement of the lower end of arm 15 on the top of the casing and accordingly the arm will phragm casing 8 and extending from its point of connection forwardly, then downwardly, and then rearwardly beneath the casing 8 towards the stylus 9. lit its other free end the bracket 20 is formed into a flat substantially vertical portion 22 constituting a guard which, with reference to the direc tion of rotation of the tablet 1 1', extends transversely and is positioned a considerable distance in advance cf the stylus 9. The lower edge of the guard 22 is sufiiciently above the lower cutting end of the stylus, so that when the recording device is in operativeposition, as shown, the guard will not quite engage the surface of the record tablet 14. During the recording operation all appreciable accumulations of the material cut from the record tablet let, will, if carried around on the surface of the latter and in the path of the stylus 9, strike the guard 22, and be deflected laterally thereby to a different surface portion of the tablet. Such accumulations of material will thus be effectually prevented from being carried against the recording-stylus 9 and thereby impairing the operation thereof. The guard 22 is preferably inclined, with respect tothe record grooves and the corresponding radius of the tablet-A, so as to more positively laterally deflect the accumulations of shavings and particles cut from tablet. Prefer ably, though not necessarily, the inclination of the guard 22 is shown in the drawing, whereby the material cut from the tablet and carried around thereby will upon striking theguard, be deflected laterally and outwardly thereby and away from the surface portion of the tablet not yet recorded upon.

It is to be understood that the embodiment of my invention shown and specifically described herein, is subject to various changes and modifications in the construction and arrangement of parts without departure from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, my invention is not limited'in its application to devices for recording on anyparticular form of record tablet. i

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is as follows 1. In a deviceof the class described. a sound conveyor, a recorder including a diaphragm casing. said casing having comnmnication with saidconv-eyor and mounted for oscillatory movement, and means for applying to said casing a'slight extraneous pressure to preventvibrations of the recording stylus other than those due to the sound waves transmitted to the recorder, said means comprising a member bearing on said casing and so arranged as to slide on such casing upon oscillatory movement of the latter.

2. In a device or" the class described, a sound conveyor, a recorder including a diaphragm casing, said casing having commuincation with said conveyor and mounted for oscillatory movement, and means comprising a member bearing freely on the casing for applying to said casing a slight extraneous pressure to prevent vibrations of the recording stylus other than those due to the sound waves transmitted to the recorder, said means having provision whereby the effective extraneous pressure thereof on the recorder may be adjusted.

3. In a device of the class described, a phonograph recorder, comprising a dia: phragm casing, a carrier therefor with which the recorder is movably connected, and means for applying to said casing a slight extraneous pressure to prevent vibrations of the recording stylus other than those caused by the sound waves transmit-ted to the recorder, said means being so arranged that upon movement of said casing such extraneous pressure will be applied to the easing both laterally and normally with respect thereto.

4. In a device of the class described, a phonograph recorder, a carrier therefor with brations of the recordin st lus other than those caused by the sound waves transmitted to the recorder, said means comprising an arm or finger pivoted at one end about an axis fixed with respect to said carrier and resting on the recorder at its other end.

5. in a device of the class described, a sound conveyor, a recorder including a diaphragm casing having pivotal connection with said conveyor about a substantially horizontal axis and having communication with said conveyor through such pivotal connection, and an arm or finger mounted at one end for pivotal movement about an axis fixed with respect to said conveyor, the

other end of said arm resting upon said diaphragm casing.

6. In a device of the class described, a recorder including a diaphragm casing, a carrier with which the recorder is connected for pivotal movement, and an arm or finger mounted at one end for pivotal movement about an axis fixed with respect to said carrier and eccentric to the axis of the pivotal CODDGCJlOll between the carrier and recorder, the other end of said arm resting upon said diaphragm casing.

This specification signed this 2nd. day of July 1921.

WAL'JTER H. MILLER. 

